“You have to first survey and study your land and jot down input and output information such as budget for fertiliser, seeds and labour needed. And then consider the balance between production cost and income.” To achieve this, Mr Chantee said, thorough study and understanding are essential.

Thanks to the Bangkok Postfor this extraordinary sufficiency economy insight.

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before revealing this secret the Thai farming community were subjected to 50+ (250+?) years of schooling in passivity, blind obedience and belief that they must create success for their masters (and mistresses) no matter how brief or asinine the demands made upon them

therefore Royalty expects this description will be applied successfully!

In trying to get my head around this concept, it almost seems like Mr Chantee is saying there is a possibility that if you don’t properly plan a business venture, it could return less money than is put into it.

If I’ve got that right, and an understanding of this could be conveyed to others, it could revolutionize industry, finance and many other fields both here in Thailand and throughout the world!

This is an epoch in economics and I’m thankful the Post was on hand to bring it to light.

For what it is worth, if there was one action that could improve the state of my local farmers it would be learning to do basic maths (i.e.- noting how much they spend on fert. and seed, how much they make, the later minus the former. Also, when the local middle man says, “I buy corn for 3.5bt/kilo and sell for 4, that’s fair, because 50 satang is hardly anything” he is actually ripping you off to high heaven).

Maybe the better way to put it is that, once again (along with the review it did weeks ago of a book about SE in Start-up Companies), the Post is conflating a point (Do your math) with a principle (SE), when the two aren’t really connected at all.

“The heart of sufficiency farming is moderation and self-immunity to create sustainable way of living. One produces enough supply from his or her own farm to feed one’s family and the rest can be sold to generate income… ”

of course, this sounds pretty cool and all.

but why it is only farmers who are urged to be “self-sufficient” – not all those people who are pushing so vigurously hard for the B400bln loans? one might think that THIS is the time to apply “self-sufficiency” principle and rather than seek borrowed money abroad – employ some internatl resources, no ? or may be borrow from the local companies (as CP group, which is thriving – reported hugs revenues in Q1).

so, all those good fellas who are eager to partake in “cake sharing” (aka “stimulus”, mega-projects, etc) – somehow they either forget the “sufficiency economy” entirely, or ignore its values?

sure, farmers must be “sufficient” – while big shots as Abhisit & Korn are hurridly stuffing their pockets with guap, and helping their buddies and patrons too – while the whole merry fun of “global economic crisis” lasts.

someone has calculated that this B400bln loand will make EACH and every Thai indebted by B80K (per capita) and there is no freaking way that average farmer can ever repay it. I guess that is the way this “Democrat” government is helping farmers to implement the “sufficiency economy”.

and so this article says :

There is perhaps no better time for the sufficiency economy to capture society’s attention than during an economic downturn.

please forgive me, folks, I have an urge to add to that:

“There is perhaps no better time for the STUFFING pockets with money than during an economic downturn” !

and that’s precisely what Dems are doing – while preaching to “stupid uneducated buffalo” peasants the “sufficiency”.

hell ! farmers don’t need to be preached no “sufficiency” – they have got used to their hardships already and learned how to survive against all the odds.

as I said sometime ago elsewhere:

for farmers it doesn’t really matter this whole globla economic crisis, because for them it is ALL THE SAME, generation after generation, during economic crtisis or during economic boom : they see no difference because they still struggle for existence, for survival.

so, perhaps BAM and whoever else rather may look closer and LEARN from farmers how to be truly sufficient !

There is so much wrong with this article that it really pains to read it.

First of all, Mr. Chantee is not exactly an example of an average farmer, as he spent “spent 18 years working with the Department of Agricultural Extension”. Which means he has far more education than an average farmer.
He may have made a profit of 50 000 per Rai with his herbal product (which one was it please, in a good year an average farmer makes about that from a bigger farm, and not per rai, and i would really like to know how to make more than 10 times of what we make from our farm). He also seems to be able to directly market his produce to department stores and such, which the average farmer can’t.

And as to retiring civil servants taking advantage of the land offered (not exactly the poorest in need of land anyhow) – good luck. Farming life is hard, and i very much doubt that many of them last more than a year. Something that happened in the area where our farm is located – many plots were left vacant soon, and were redistributed.

… in the country’s rural heartland the deep anger … still burns brightly…

“There are no institutions we can rely on,” said Phongsri Panlert, a fruit seller…
“Most of the institutions have double standards,” she said…

Last month, about two dozen residents pulled on the red shirts that identify them as government opponents and climbed into the backs of pickups for the eight-hour journey to Bangkok to protest what they see as their disenfranchisement.

The anger that has been brewing for years was given a focal point late last year, when a combination of court action and demonstrations by middle-class Bangkok activists brought down a government that had been the choice of the rural poor.

… in the countryside, discontent persists.

I guess this was pointed out because it is a foreign newspaper.
foreign reporters somehow find time and means to travel to rural areas and interview the farmers.

although of course there is nothing much extraordinary special said in this article, very general things – but nowadays even that much can’t be seen in Thai MSM, only some BS propaganda.

in contrast to those foreign reporters, local Thai media do not bother at all going to villages and interview the “stupid buffalo ” peasants (about 2 weeks I heard one of reporters on Nation channel made such a remark about protesters at GH) – instead Thai media publish PROPAGANDA article like the one quoted here , that farmers must practice the “sufficiency economy”.

add to that propagandist articles – the ISOC adds on TV, and now also announced “registration” for comunity radio station – aka “proper control“ by NTC …

all that not helps disenfranchisement of farmers and poor people, but instead worsens it.

therefore I don’t see any signs that the anti-establishment movement will stop or even lessen as long as this sh1t goes on and on.

a very good program right now (Sun Jul 12th, 9.30pm) on Thai PBS – about the REAL corruption BS side of the so called “self-sufficiency” so much pushed by Abhisit’s gov. (in response to TV add where Abhisit talks about self-sufficiency).

the brief outline of what is being shown in the program:

gov. gave to each village those machines for … drinking water – how the hell is that related to “self-sufficiency” ?! people are giving interviews on #Thai PBS about the so called “self-sufficiency”: “we are not buffaloes, we understand what’s going on !” BUT … when they are going to protest – they are being told that they’ll be sued over “offending governor” – what a BS ! HUGE corruption in #Thailand. under the name of “self-sufficiency” present gov. MAKES MONEY for themselves ! they say to villagers : “here is the machine for drinking water, it’s price is … B350K” – while REAL price is only B38K ! so, WHO is getting those money ? not even to mention that these machines are totally USELESS for some Isaan villagers. because they say: we don’t use this kind of machine, we have water in every house already. what we need – we’ve written in our request list. that is : buffaloes to plough the fields (because petrol is too costly to use tractors) and pigs to grow for meat… so, that’s what we need – NOT these water machines ! this is simply ridiculously unbelievable – how this gov. is BS-ing people ! yet this PROPAGANDA add is continues being played on many TV channels in #Thailand – with #Abhisit talking about “self-sufficiency”.